Monthly Archives: January 2014

22 Creatively Catchy and Clever Names to Inspire You

One of the best ways to get great ideas for a new blog’s name is to get inspiration from existing blogs that have really cool names.

To save you time in hunting for them, here are 22 awesome names that have been handpicked to get you going:

  1. Celebritology – Appending the suffix ‘ology’ to a blog’s core focus is a quick way to create a clever sounding and unique name, especially if the resulting word is not already in existence and you actually end up with a brand new word. Celebritology is one of these made up words, as there is no known offcial science or study of celebrities.
  2. Rawmazing – Yes, raw food is amazingly good for you, and if you want to reflect this in your blog’s name, then the blend of ‘raw’ and ‘amazing’ produces ‘rawmazing’. At the same time, it could double up with a secondary meaning of guiding readers through the maze of being a raw foodie.
  3. Sacatomato – If your first impression was that this blog has something to do with Sacramento, then you’re very right, and the blogger has achieved his or her objective of catchily incoporating the blog’s focus into a made up name that combines ‘Sacramento’ with ‘tomoato’. It also sounds a little like ‘sack of tomato(es)’ but that’s probably a coincidence. Why tomatoes? Not sure. There isn’t a hidden meaning in every name. Sometimes, its chosen just because it sounds funny.
  4. Vanilla Garlic – Whether it’s from seeing two words that you’ve never seen slung together before, or from trying to imagine (or cringe at) the taste described, this name does stop you in your tracks as its certainly different. It doesn’t make you want to taste it, but does make you curious enough to want to take a look at whether this food blogger’s opinions are as unique and quirky as the name he’s chosen for his blog.
  5. Eagletarian – At first glance the name looks like it might be a play on the word ‘egalitarian’, but further inspection reveals that it is a blog about the Philadelphia Eagles, where the word ‘Eagle’ has been combined with an ‘arian’ suffix to produce a name that suggests the blogger is a believer, advocate and supporter of the Eagles.
  6. Blogriculture – Think this sounds like it may be the name of a blog about agriculture?Well, it is. The best names sound good, are memorable and communicate what the underlying blog focuses on. This combination of ‘blog’ and ‘agriculture’ is a natural fit, but other words and topics may not gel together quite as nicely.
  7. Angry Chicken – Birds and chickens are animals that you don’t typically view as being bad tempered or angry. That’s why these types of names work well in perking a reader’s attention, as they are quirky and a little weird. Such naming styles are not cleverly infused with meaning, they are memorable, strange and just make you want to check them out.
  8. Fashionologie – For blog topics that are extremely popular such as fashion, where most naming styles and strategies have been overused already, you can combine 2 different approaches to produce something unique. In this case, it’s using an ‘ology’ suffix, and modifying the spelling to ‘ologie’ to give it a fashionable french sound.
  9. PEA Soup – The use of a generic term of phrase in a non-generic way often works wonders, such as adopting Apple as a name to sell computers rather than edible apples. This blog is called PEA Soup but it’s got nothing to do with peas or soups. Instead the capitalized PEA indicates that it’s an acronym, which actually stands for Philosophy, Ethics and Academia. And the Soup presumably refers to the way these subjects have been blended together.
  10. House of Spots – Without knowledge of the content, you may be forgiven for thinking this is some sort of acne treatment blog that has adapated the phrase ‘house of cards’ and replaced ‘cards’ with ‘spots’. But once you find out the blogger is a dog lover, you’d be right in concluding the blog is all about dalmatians and the home that houses them.
  11. Just Bento – When you think of Japanese food, bento boxes may come to mind, but when you hear or read the word ‘bento’ used in a blog’s name, you’ll instantly think it’s focused on Japanese cuisine. Sometimes, a unique word (ie bento) from a particular topic can be used to make a more creative name, rather than using a generic description (ie japanese food blog).
  12. Typographica – A well created name combining ‘typography’ or ‘typographic’ with an ‘ica’ suffix to produce a unique result that presumably means a collection of all things related to typography. Or, an ‘a’ could have simply been added to the end of ‘typographic’ to turn a descriptive word into a cooler sounding name for a blog.
  13. Culturistas – Most of the time, any name with an ‘ista’ suffix usually leads one to think that it’s a name for a fashion blog. In this case, the blog is related to all things culture, from fashion and style to music and nightlife.
  14. Cats In Sinks – Why on earth are cats fascinated with sinks? It doesn’t matter if you don’t know, all that does is you know they are, and hence it makes a great name for a cat lovers blog, especially if it is filled with pictures of them playing, sitting, or lounging in sinks. When you start a new blog in an already overcrowded market, a generic name like ‘funny cat pictures’ just won’t cut it, as there are plenty of other blogs with the same name, so find a unique niche and name your blog accordingly.
  15. The Sake Guy – A blog about Japanese life and culture doesn’t need to have the word ‘Japan’ in its name. In fact, a creatively named blog almost always doesn’t, as there are cooler and more indirect ways of getting that message across, such as using an unmistakably Japanese word or concept, such as ‘sake’ for instance.
  16. Give Me Moore! – Most of the time a punning blog name will work its magic to reflect the wittiness and creativity of the blogger, even if they didn’t come up with it themselves. Here, ‘more’ from the phrase ‘give me more’ has been modded to ‘Moore’ which looks like it is a surname. On closer inspection, this is a blog by photographer Kelly Moore. Perfect fit.
  17. Traffick – A cleverly modified spelling of a word (used in its descriptive sense or in a brandable way) is a creative method to make up a blog’s name. In this case, a ‘k’ has been added to the end of the word ‘traffic’ to create a new word that is pronounced in the same way and sounds identical. Short, memorable and classy.
  18. Fooducate – It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this blog educates readers about food. That’s because the name is effective in conveying the essence of its content and what it hopes to achieve. This name blends ‘food’ with ‘educate’, but notice that it does not need to do it in a grammatically correct way. If so, the term would be ‘food education’ and the resulting name would be ‘fooducation’.
  19. The Foodinista – Fashion and food goes hand in hand for some people. Both are indulgences that women love, so why not create a name that is inspired by elements from each of them. This blog combines the word ‘foodie’ with the ending from ‘fashionista’ to come up with a catchy sounding name that tells readers the blogger is obsesseed with food.
  20. Infrastructurist – You get accupuncturists but never have we come across any infrastructurists. This is obviously a made up word combining ‘infrastructure’ with an ‘ist’ suffix to suggest that the blogger is some sort of an infrastructure expert or the blog is somehow related to the construction and related industries.
  21. Eat. Drink. Smile. – Eat-Love-Pray type names are generally still regarded to be relatively creative, especially when compared with unimaginative descriptive keyphrases. You can modify the 3 verbs to include anything you like. In this case, it’s eating, drinking and smiling.
  22. Managing Mankind – This name’s alliterative qualities definitely enhances its appeal, especially since both words start with the same three letters ‘man’, and not just one or two. But it is the combined meaning that lifts the impact of the name even further, as a claim of ‘managing mankind’ can only incite interest in anyone who comes across the name.

25 Great Blog Names that are Simply Awesome

Great names are priceless. Unfortunately, it takes a fair bit of wit and clever wordplay to come up with a truly outstanding gem.

If you’re still trying to figure out what to call your new site, check out these catchy names to get some ideas.

  1. Swissmiss – Rhyming words make great names, but only if they are relevant and meaningful. This one is, as the blogger is a Swiss designer and female.
  2. Memeorandum – Great example of a name using combined words to create an original brand. This one blends meme with memorandum perfectly.
  3. Bargaineering – What do you get when you fuse ‘bargain’ with ‘engineering’? An awesome name for a personal finance blog.
  4. Wisebread – Quirky combinations of words usually get people’s attention. In its regular meaning, bread is not normally thought to be wise, but when it refers to money, this is a cool name for a finance blog.
  5. Smitten Kitchen – A perfect example of a beautiful and memorable name using 2 words packed full of meaning, ryhme and have the same number of syllables.
  6. What Katie Ate – From What Katie Ate and What Kim Wore, to Where Allie Went and Where Jill Played, short descriptive questions can make effective personal or topical blog names when done right.
  7. Man vs. Debt – You’d normally think of ‘versus’ being used to refer to 2 teams or people competing together, but evidently, it’s also an ideal way to sum up any struggle, task or challenging goal, such as keeping personal debt under control.
  8. Saving for Serenity – Nice name that uses alliteration for a phonetic impact, and a quirky meaning for added effect. We think of saving for a new car, home or a vacation, but not normally for serenity.
  9. Weakonomics – Another blended name produced by combining two words. In this case it’s ‘weak’ and ‘economics’ which work well as the ‘eak’ in weak sounds similar to the ‘ec’ in economics.
  10. Inhabitat – This is nice and clever. There’s ‘inhabit’, ‘habitat’ and even ‘inhabitant’, but no ‘inhabitat’ until this name was cleverly created for a blog about the future of design and technology.
  11. Shelteriffic – A fitting name for a home improvement blog that mixes ‘shelter’ and ‘teriffic’ nicely with the last 3 letters of the first word being the same as the first 3 letters of the second word. Some word combos are naturally suited better than others.
  12. Bad Banana – Alliterative names work most of the time, especially if they get your attention and make you want to know more. This one certainly does that. Surely the blog’s not about a rotting nana. Is it?
  13. GameSetWatch – Sometimes, all it takes is a tiny tweak of a single alphabet to modify a common phrase into a cool blog name, and in this case, Game-Set-Match has simply been innovated into Game-Set-Watch.
  14. Economix – The use of alternate spellings as a way to modify a dictionary word into a unique brand whilst keeping the same phonetic sound and pronouciation of the word is a clever naming strategy. Rappers do this a lot.
  15. Freakonomics – This is what you get when you marry ‘freak’ with ‘economics’? A fresh term to rationalize quirky realities of the real world from an economist’s perspective.
  16. The Kitchn – Words can be transformed into unique brand names by spelling them in a quirky way and a common technique is to drop a vowel at the end of the word which may not change the way the resulting name is pronounced. Hence ‘flicker’ becomes ‘Flickr’, and ‘kitchen’ becomes ‘Kitchn’.
  17. Rambling Spoon – Quirky names like this are amusing. Just combine an adjective that’s not normally used to describe an object and you’ll often produce something that is attention grabbing. When was the last time you saw a spoon ramble on?
  18. Rafael Nadal – Rafa’s parents probably didn’t do it intentionally, but the endings of his first and last name rhyme nicely. It’s not a perfect rhyme, but there’s a nice phonetic bounce to it. As a result, his name makes for a great blog name too.
  19. Centsational Girl – A beautiful modification of the word ‘sensational’ (aren’t all women?) by using ‘cent’ to replace the ‘sen’, and coming up with a unique word that instantly indicates it’s a money saving or bargain hunting blog.
  20. Bargain Babe – No overly clever word play here where both words are used in their natural meaning, and combined eloquently to produce an effective alliterative name that’s memorable and meaningful.
  21. Get Rich Slowly – Something that is out of the ordinary normally stands out in the crowd. If every other blog is claiming to help readers to ‘get rich quickly’, and you call yours ‘get rich slowly’, you’re going to be different, and different is good when it comes to creating unique names.
  22. Moolanomy – The use of a slang or alternative word is normally effective in creating a creative name. Instead of using ‘money’ as your main keyword, you could replace it with ‘bread’ or in this case, ‘moola’, so that when you further combine it with ‘economy’ (or any other word ending in ‘nomy’), you’ll have an extremely unique name that’s packed with meaning.
  23. Field of Schemes – Words that ryhme don’t need to be spelt in a similar way, it’s the sound produced when they’re pronounced that’s important. This one is a perfect adaptation of ‘field of dreams’.
  24. Thinking Out Cloud – Simply brilliant. There may be other phrases with the word ‘cloud’ in it that could be used for a cloud computing blog, but in this case, the underlying phrase of ‘thinking out loud’ is just perfect to refer to a blog where the blogger is sharing his or her opinion with the world.
  25. Petite Planet – As a Parenting/Mommy blog, this name is particularly cool in a number of ways as ‘petite’ is an elegant way to describe the little ones and ‘planet’ certainly sums up the unique lens that they view the word through. But it’s the lovely mix of the two words that produces a wonderful combined effect.

 

17 Examples of Good Blog Names to Get Naming Ideas

If you’re about to start a new blog and just can’t think of a cool name for it, then browse through this collection of 16 creative blog names to get some inspiration.

There are lots of different ways to come up with an awesome name and you can take your pick from the naming style that’s best suited to your blog.

  1. Babyrazzi – Very few words end with ‘razzi’ and the first one that comes to mind is ‘paparazzi’. And what are the paparazzi associated with? Celebrities. Hence, no prizes for guessing that this is the name for a blog about celebrities and their babies. A very creative and suitable name indeed.
  2. College Candy – Some names just hit the spot, and you know it when you see or hear them. This is one of them. You don’t know if the blogger’s name is Candy or whether she’s sweet. It doesn’t matter. The alliteration sounds good, you know it’s probably about the non-academic side of colleges, and it makes you want to check it out. What more can a name ask for? And oh yes, it’s super memorable as well.
  3. Simply, Me – This blogger is either unpretentious, unsuccessful at finding a creatively catchy name, or simply unimaginative. Regardless, mixed in among names that are clever, cool and witty, this one does stand out in its own way. Makes you think – what’s so simply you? As long as you can perk an interest, you’re half way towards getting a new visitor and a potential reader.
  4. Fork You! – This is a great name in many ways. It’s an obvious play on ‘f*ck you!’, which inevitably gets anyone’s attention whenever it’s said. Now, keep the first and last letters and make minor modifications to the 2 letters in the middle, and ‘fork’ cleverly transforms a common phrase into a creative foodie blog name. Simple, witty and unambiguous, unless you’ve been forked before.
  5. Phoodie – Some of the best blog names are made by using alternative spellings of relevant words to create a totally unique brand. You basically want to vary the way a word is spelt but still have the resulting name pronounced to sound the same as the original, such as ‘foodie’ and ‘phoodie’.
  6. Ethicurean – Oh yes, very very nice. Without knowing what the blog is about, you would be right to guess that this is a name made by combining ‘ethical’ with ‘epicurean’. The resulting ‘ethicurean’ just fits perfectly, and it’s pleasing to learn that this is indeed a blog focused on sustainable food. Definitely one of the best blog names ever created.
  7. Life Begins at 30 – There’s no doubt this name works. It’s simply a tweak on the famous ‘life begins at 40’, which could be adapted to 20, 50, or any age, so it’s not overly creative, but sometimes you don’t need to be. The goal is to get a blog name that is meaningful and memorable, and if you get good marks for creativity in the process, all the better.
  8. Brooklyn Bride – Can there be any doubt what this blog is about? No, it’s a wedding blog. Is it easy to remember and tell your friends all about it? Yes, especially if you’re a woman living near Brooklyn. Is it short and pronounceable? Yes, only 3 syllables in total. Is it a pleasure to say and hear? Yes, the alliterative b’s work like a dream.
  9. Pizza Therapy – Unique and highly memorable. A good naming strategy is to combine common objects and concepts that are not normally associated with each other. It doesn’t always work, but you know when it does, as the resulting name needs to make sense in some way. Pizza and therapy certainly does.
  10. Shanghaiist – At first, the double i’s look strange, but it grows on you quickly when you look at it from a brand name’s perspective instead of how common words are spelt. The ‘ist’ suffix leaves no doubt the blogger is writing about Shanghai. It’s a good name, but just doesn’t roll off the tongue nicely. In fact, you need to get your lungs and chest involved to push out the ‘haiist’.
  11. Going Out Gurus – Meaningful, memorable and easy to pronounce. What more could you want in a blog name. It’s not one of the wittier or quirky names in the blogosphere, but it’s simple and effective. Tried and tested formula at work again – alliteration and a concept that’s unique (who’s ever heard of a going out guru before?).
  12. Metrocurean – Modded from ‘epicurean’, the ‘curean’ word ending can be combined with lots of root words to produce a name that suggests the blog is devoted to a particular form of sensual pleasure. In this case, Metrocurean is the blog of a food and travel writer from Washington DC.
  13. Chicagoist – Some people may find the ‘city name’ plus ‘ist’ suffix as a cool naming strategy for a locally focused blog name. While it certainly produces a unique sounding name that’s not a common dictionary word, it’s not particularly creative and the word-playing quality leaves a lot to be desired. That said, the sound of the end product depends a lot on the underlying town or city, so some of these names will be a lot more appealing than others.
  14. Wordle – A short, easy to pronounce word that contains a relevant root keyword normally makes for a good blog name. It doesn’t always work, and a lot of testing needs to be done, but when it does, you’ll have a winner that turns your blog’s name into a memorable brand. Who could possibly not like a name like ‘wordle’.
  15. Bakerella – Fantastic name, simply awesome. It’s sweet, it’s fun, and it sounds delicious. Even smells of cupcakes and cookies, leaving no doubt that it’s a baking fanatics blog. The ‘ella’ word ending works its charm in many ways from Spanish-Italian inspired linguistic angles, to beautiful (‘bella’) and girly (‘Cinderella’) associations. It doesn’t click with any old root word, but this is a good example of when it does.
  16. Seven Spoons – Chances are, it’s a foodie blog, but does it have anything to do with seven little dwarfs? Probably not. Sometimes the true meaning behind a blog’s name isn’t immediately apparent. Sometimes, it never becomes clear why it’s called what it is. But if the name sounds interesting, makes you want to know more, allows you to recall it easily, it’s probably done its job already.
  17. Mashable – Nice, short, memorable and only 3 syllables. But it’s also meaningful, originally inspired by the trend of ‘mashups’ on the Internet where pieces of web content are combined in interesting and useful ways. Now that practically anything in the digital space can be mashed together to produce something new, this is a fabulous name for a news source that covers a mix mash of news and resources for the connected generation.

15 Cleverly Named Blogs that are Worth Noting

There are plenty of naming strategies that can be used to come up with a memorable and meaningful name for your new blog.

Here are 16 examples of good names that have been created with a range of different techniques:

  1. Nourish Me – Sometimes simplicity trumps super creativeness, especially if you have a broad audience where a large proportion of them may be simpletons who are not good at interpreting witty word play. Use words that clearly define your niche. This is not just a food blog, it’s evidently one that focuses on nourishing meals and nutritional eats.
  2. Remarkablogger What do you call a remarkable blogger? Remarkablogger or course. This is an interesting combination to create something that certainly fits, but the end result is quite average as it somehow just doesn’t roll off the tongue perfectly. Maybe it’s a bit too long with 5 syllables.
  3. Jung at Heart – Nice, very nice, especially if it is a blog related to psychiatry, which it is, since the author is a Jungian psychotherapist. When you use a unique and topic specific word or name (such as ‘Jung’ in this case, referring to Carl Jung the famous Swiss who founded analytical psychology), it will automatically resonate with your intended audience. Others may not ‘get it’ but that doesn’t matter, as long as those who you’re trying to reach value and appreciate the sophistication in the name you created. Now combine that word (ie Jung) with a popular phrase such as ‘young at heart’, and you have a meaningful name that communicates how Jung is at the heart of (or central to) your approach.
  4. Shrink Rap – As a blog related to psychoanalysis, this name has multiple creative spins to it, all revolving around the core phrase ‘shrink wrap’ which of course has nothing to do with psychology or psychiatry. Everyone knows that ‘shrink’ is an informal term for a psychiatrist, while ‘rap’ refers to a music style where lyrics are spoken or ‘rapped’ rather than sung in the conventional way. Combined, these two word plays become a great name for a psychiatrist’s blog.
  5. Pensieve – This is a mommy blog where the author shares great tips and advice. There are a couple of potential interpretations of how the name is made up – by blending the word ‘pensive’ with ‘sieve’, or by combining the word ‘pen’ with ‘sieve’ to produce a result that sounds like ‘pensive’. Either way, it involves the blogger’s thoughts and opinions that have been sifted or distilled into coherent and useful thoughts that are ‘penned’ into the blog.
  6. SimpleMom – A lot of mommy bloggers are clever, smart and capable super moms who dish out awesome advice, but their readers may not completely relate to them in a down to earth way. Amidst the flurry of differing expert mom blogs out there, by choosing a classic and unpretentious name, you could connect with a lot of readers who instantly connect with you as they view you to be just like them, a simple mom.
  7. Lifehacker – The term hacker usually refers to a super smart computer genius who can do spectacular things at amazing speeds because they have clever know-hows on ways to ‘hack’ things. This blog focuses on offering productivity tips to make everyday tasks significantly easier to achieve. In short, it helps readers to hack their way through life. The resulting name is simple and descriptive in this sense, but hacking is not normally associating with people’s lives and that’s what makes this name slightly quirky and hence awesome.
  8. The Onion – An onion has many layers, each of which can be removed gradually in order to get to the core. A quirky name can be weird or amusing on the surface, but it could also be loaded with meaning if it has been creatively thought up. But sometimes, there’s no clever history behind it, and in the case of TheOnion, apparently the founders were so poor when they started the publication that they were down to eating white bread and onions.
  9. TreeHugger – In every industry or niche, there are specific terms or phrases that are unique, and these normally make good names for blogs as they will naturally connect with your targeted audience. When it comes to green and environmentally related topics, ‘tree huggers’ is definitely a popular way to describe people who want to save trees, save animals, and save the planet.
  10. Money Saving Mom – A creative name doesn’t need to be too clever. It just needs to be effective and appeal to its audience. This name is descriptively simple and full of meaning to communicate what it’s all about. The natural use of alliteration (with money and mom both starting with ‘mo’) produces a great name that’s easy to pronounce, intuitive, memorable and meaningful.
  11. Skool Days – For a nostalgia blog, this is an awesome name that’s extremely creative. It combines the core phrase of ‘school days’ which already involves looking back into the past, together with the word ‘skool’ from the phrase ‘old skool’ (which refers to old and out of date ways of doing things that are cool). Very nice indeed.
  12. Life in the Turn Lane – As a Nascar focused blog, this name simply combines the popular phrase ‘life in the fast lane’ with ‘turn lane’ which is a driving related term to produce a unique name that’s easy to remember.
  13. Black Flamingo – Although it has been used as a name for lots of brands and products, ‘black flamingo’ is still effective as a blog’s name. Similar to black sheeps, swans and any animal where black is not their common colour but a one-off anomaly, the use of such a name automatically indicates that the underlying product is unique, different and special. When you think of flamingoes, you imagine orangey pink birds, so when one visualizes a black one, it definitely stands out from the crowd.
  14. Hippy Shopper – There’s nothing exceptionally creative or clever about this name. It’s just short, simple and goes straight to the point. Maybe it’s the double p’s that gives it a pleasing look when spelt out.
  15. Pearsonified – This is one of the best personal blog names ever created. It’s rich with meaning, creativity and relevance. Chris Pearson (the author) has beautifully blended his name with the word ‘personified’ to produce a unique brand. In addition, the suffix ‘ified’ also refers to the process of ‘becoming’ or ‘to become’ something, hence any words, concepts or thoughts shared in this blog has effectively become ‘pearson-ed’. Absolutely brilliant.